Page 16 of Tempting Her Forbidden Boss

‘It will be.’ Alex climbed the last of the stairs.

‘It better be.’ Dani followed him up into the room, determined to master her chaotic emotions. ‘Who are you?’

‘Lorenzo,’ he answered as bluntly as she’d asked.

‘Do you live here?’ She couldn’t keep the challenge out of her voice—it was the way she’d always hidden her fear.

A glance passed between the two men. Lorenzo took a step towards the stairs. ‘I’m guessing we’ll talk later.’

‘No, I want you to meet Dani,’ Alex said so smoothly that Lorenzo paused and looked. ‘She’s going to take over when Cara goes on maternity leave.’

Lorenzo’s mouth opened, but then shut.

‘Full-time position, of course, but starting from now,’ Alex added.

Dani darted looks between Alex and Lorenzo—saw Lorenzo’s eyes had widened slightly, but still he said nothing.

‘You’ll get Cara to show her what to do.’ Alex was telling, not asking.

‘Absolutely. No problem.’ Lorenzo’s impassivity shattered with a smile. ‘And as Dani is obviously staying here with you, you can drop her to the warehouse tomorrow.’

Alex’s eyes were the ones widening now.

‘Talk more later, Alex,’ Lorenzo said.

‘Yep.’ It was amazing sound could emerge from the mask his face had become.

Lorenzo looked at Dani and then at Alex again, his smile turning into a total smirk. ‘Nice to meet you, Dani. See you tomorrow.’

FOUR

Dani waited’til Lorenzo had gonedown the stairs and she’d heard the door shut after him. Then she turned to Alex. ‘What job?’ She’d deal with the most palatable issue first.

‘Administrator for the Whistle Fund.’

The charitable fund his company supported. Alex was on the board. She knew this from his fangirl at the water-cooler.

‘Lorenzo is the chief exec. The organisation is based in his building. Cara, the current administrator, is pregnant and needs some help.’

‘And it’s a paid position? Full-time?’ She’d always thought these kind of jobs were often voluntary—wealthy wives doing some part-time hours for fun and fulfilment.

‘Yes.’

Dani thought. ‘I’ve done numbers more than admin.’

‘Which is perfect, because this is all about dealing with money and there’s a huge overlap in terms of dealing with systems for paperwork. And there’s probably more variety. You’d be taking lots of calls, answering queries, sending out info packs, sorting the requests, updating the website and socials. I’m sure you can manage a phone and talk nice to people.’

She’d started as a teller. She liked the interaction with the public—more so than the back-room dealing with the corporate banking she’d gone into.

‘Cara really does need help.’ His persuasion continued. ‘You’re good at your job. I’m sure you’ll pick it up, no problem.’

‘How do you know I’m good at my job when you didn’t even know my name?’ She couldn’t resist sticking a pin in his smooth-talking bubble.

‘We only recruit exceptional employees—even temporary workers have to be of Carlisle standard.’

Carlisle standard?Oh, he had an answer for everything. And what was the bet he had a standard in bed too? If it was anything like his kissing standard it wouldn’t just be exceptional, it would be nothing short of spectacular. But it wasn’t helpful to think about that now. She took a step back towards the stairs.

‘Why don’t you do a week’s trial?’ He was relentless, taking a step after her—not letting her increase her distance from him.

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